Tony Scott Family Establishes AFI Scholarship

Scott's family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the fund at the American Film Institute.

The family of Tony Scott has established the Tony Scott Scholarship Fund at the American Film Institute to honor the late Top Gun director's "life and work," Scott's family said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter onMonday.

"The family ask that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the fund to help encourage and engage future generations of filmmakers," the family said.

A private, family-only funeral forScotttook place Aug. 24 in Los Angeles, five days after he died. The 68-year-old director, who helmed such films as Man on Fire, Days of Thunder and True Romance, died Aug. 19 in what was described as "a witnessed suicide." Scott jumped off of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro.

The reason for Scott taking his own life remains unknown.

Ed Winter , a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, told THR on Aug. 24 that Scott left two separate notes for his family and friends. One note, discovered inside the director's black Toyota Prius, contained a list of people to contact, and a separate note found in Scott's office contained specific messages to friends and family.

"There was a suicide note to loved ones and a list with several names and numbers," Winter said, adding that neither of the notes contained a mention of health issues. (An Aug. 20 report by ABC News said that Scott suffered from inoperable brain cancer; ABC News, which drew widespread media scrutiny, later amended its story to say Scott's family was unaware he had cancer.)

Scott is survived by his wife Donna Wilson Scott and twin preteen sons.Friends and family members, including Scott's older brother, Ridley, who directed this summer's Prometheus, attended the filmmaker's funeral service, according to a TMZ report. Ridley, who with his brother ran production company Scott Free, flew in from London the day after Tony's death.

AFI is a nonprofit educational and cultural organization whose key aims are to preserve the history of the motion picture, honor artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers.